Reading the books with a twist!
by Dragonheart1234
Summary: Now belongs to CuriousGuest. Sorry PJ fans...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Dragonheart here with a brand new story. It's a reading the books story with a twist. For one thing, it's not in the past, but the present, and Percy had never fallen in love with Annabeth. In fact he was single for the whole series, and the next two books. You'll have to read to find out why it's different. I hope you enjoy!**

**I don't own anything.**

Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, was lying in bed, deep in thought. A few days ago, the 7 from the prophecy had taken down Porphyrion. Zeus and Percy were working together to take him down, a rare combination. Zeus had begrudgingly worked with Percy and they had taken him down, but it came with a price. Porphyrion slammed his fist into the ground, creating massive shockwaves and since Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, was on the ground, near where the fist landed, was thrown back. Percy had transformed into his liquid form, basically he was able to transform his body into water, and shot across the field. It was like double the speed of him sprinting.

He had caught Artemis, after re-changing into his human form, and set her on the ground carefully since if he touched her in any way he would probably be turned into a rabbit. After Zeus and Percy had taken out Porphyrion, they heard Gaia let out a bloodcurdling scream. The earth around them had collapsed and a face appeared in the earth around them. It had slowly started to crack and it crumbled. What was left was a pile of dirt, which everyone wisely stayed away from.

A few days later, there had been a party, on Olympus, for everyone. When Percy decided he had enough of girls flirting with him, he opted to leave. He ultimately decided to walk the streets of Olympus, for the always amazed him. Unfortunately for Percy, Artemis had decided that she wanted some revenge on him, for having to be saved by a man. She had ambushed him and tortured him, well sort of.

She had stabbed him from behind, with a dagger. He immediately reacted by grabbing her wrist, fueling her anger some more. She kicked him in the nose, instantly breaking it. Then she had punched him in the gut, making Percy release her wrist instantly. Then, Artemis had blasted Percy's ribs with magic, something he didn't recognize. Right before he blacked out he saw her leave.

Percy didn't know how long he was there, lying on the floor, but he remembered Apollo, walking down the street, whistling the tune to Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5, Percy's favorite band. He spotted Percy and his eyes widened and his jaw dropped, comically. That was the last thing Percy remembered before blacking out.

Now we're caught up to the future. Percy had been in bed for several weeks, resting, and he had many visitors. His father and all of his friends had visited him in the hospital, desperately asking what happened. Apollo had looked through his memories, after he healed him, and angrily showed Zeus the memory. He then rounded on Artemis, but she disappeared, and no one, without her permission, could get to her camp with the Hunters.

Apollo had filled him and his father in on what happened and Poseidon instantly became pissed. On the other hand, Percy was just curious and let it breeze past him. To him, it was just like another God trying to kill him, in which he had plenty experience with. For instance, Hades had tried to kill Percy all his life, from facing Alecto to fighting Hades and his army. After the war Hades had apologized to Percy and they had immediately struck up an uncle and nephew relationship. Over the next few months, their bond had gotten stronger and Percy was regularly visiting Hades in the Underworld. One day Hades asked Percy if he wanted to be his Champion.

Percy immediately refused, saying that that title should have been reserved for Nico, but it turned out that Nico had turned down the offer himself when he told his father that he appreciated the offer, but that Nico wanted to be a normal half-blood, as if a half-blood was normal. In Camp Half-Blood he would be singled out because of his strength and he would have an unfair advantage. Unlike before, Nico had started to consider Camp Half-Blood as a home and it was hard to pry him out of there.

Percy had learned of some neat powers that he had gained. Like Nico, he could summon undead warriors, but not as many at one time. He could also shadow travel, which is pretty self-explanatory. He also had 24/7 access to the Underworld. Finally, as a gift from Hades, Percy was given the offspring of Cerberus. Mrs. O'leary was killed in a fight in Camp Jupiter. A legion of rogue demigods had surrounded her and one had shot an arrow tipped with Greek fire on the tip. She was burned and Percy mourned her for many months.

Percy unsteadily got out of bed and headed to the Throne Room of Olympus, where he had been summoned to. He was in a bed on Olympus and was around a minute's walk. When he got there he saw Zeus and all the other Olympians, and they all looked bored.

Hermes saw Percy first and his face brightened. "Hey Perce, how ya doin', nobody would tell me what happened to you."

Percy was about to respond, but Zeus cut him off and said, "I have an important announcement to make." Everyone had directed their attention towards him, except for Aphrodite who was filing her nails. "You have all seen young Perseus' condition and it was certainly not a good one. I'm sorry to say that it was one of us who put him in the condition."

Everyone who didn't know what happened gasped, and Artemis squirmed uncomfortably. She had also gone a little pale, only which was noticed by Apollo, Poseidon, and Percy. Hades and Hestia got their thrones back, Percy's wish from the Giant War. Hades had a hunch of who did this to him because he could feel Percy's strong emotions towards Artemis and Hestia knew because she looked at the story through the hearth.

"Artemis for what you have done you will be punished" Zeus said. Everyone started to round on Artemis and she cringed, hanging her head down. "Your punishment will be what you have dreaded the most" Zeus said, going on. Artemis' eyes widened. "Artemis for your deeds you must marry Perseus" Zeus said with utter finality.

Percy fainted on the spot and Artemis', as well as the other gods; mouths were flapping up and down, with no words coming out.

"What the hell do you mean marry, father" Artemis screamed.

"I've asked Hestia and she showed me a few months of your hunt and how you torture men. If you come upon a mortal man you kill them, and sometimes you even go out of your way to find them and kill them" Zeus said angrily.

Before Artemis could respond, Zeus went on, "Don't forget that Perseus saved your life twice, and you grudgingly admitted that he was the only man you respected."

Once again, before Artemis could respond, a bright white flash filled the room, but it only lasted for a second. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and suddenly a package fell from the sky, hitting Apollo, who was trying to get Percy up, in the head.

Apollo yelped, and opened up the package. "There's a note and it says: _"In order for Artemis to gain Percy's trust you must read these books. That's not the only purpose though. These books will show you why your own sons and daughters had fought for the Titans and Gaea. _

_The Fates_

_P.S. bring the main campers from both camps (_I'm assuming that you know who they are)

"Alright let's read!" Athena yelled. She was just eager to read a new book.

Everyone rolled their eyes and Hermes went to contact Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood.

Percy woke up with a huge gasp.

**And done! This is just the prologue. Reading will definitely be in next chapter though, and I will be changing some of the text, mainly Percy's thoughts on Annabeth and the love scenes. Anyways read and review please, oh and check out my other story, The Tournament of Legends.**

**Dragonheart1234**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back and I hope you liked the last chapter. I loved the reviews that you guys made me and as for updates, they may or may not be quick since homework at high school could vary from day to day. There's not much more to say so onto the story.**

**I don't own anything.**

Percy woke up with a gasp. He had hoped that that what he heard was a dream and he would wake up, in the infirmary. Unfortunately he saw the serious look on Apollo's face and he internally groaned. Without a word Apollo helped him up and they walked to the throne room without saying anything.

When Percy got into the throne room he thought the atmosphere was going to be tense, but he was wrong. Aphrodite was putting on makeup, Ares was eating chicken wings, Dionysus was sleeping, Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades were arguing over who was more powerful, Artemis was glaring at the floor, Athena was reading a book, Hephaestus was making something out of some spare parts in his pockets, Hera had closed her eyes, but you could tell that she was awake, Demeter was telling Hestia that she needed more cereal, and Hermes was just arriving with the campers, all who looked confused.

Annabeth, Leo, Piper, Reyna, Jason, Frank, Hazel, Clarisse, the Stoll's, Beckendorf (never died), Silena (Also never died), Thalia, Nico, Grover, and finally Katie were in the group and they walked in silently.

Once they got in the room Zeus spoke, "I know you're all confused, but we got this package from the Fates and apparently they contain books about Perseus." Everyone's eyes widened. The note was passed around and they got confused as to why Percy needed Artemis' trust.

"Lord Zeus, why does Artemis need to gain Percy's trust?" Annabeth asked curiously.

"Artemis had to marry someone in the room at the time, for she had put Perseus in his previous state and that was her punishment" Zeus replied.

"Why Percy though?" Jason questioned.

"Father knew that if I had to pick a man in the room it would be Percy since almost all of them are married, Hermes has slept with every woman on Earth, and Ares is a pig. The rest are married, not that I would choose them though" Artemis said depressed.

Without a word, Athena waved her hand and a gargantuan couch appeared. Everyone took a seat and surprisingly Artemis sat next to Percy. Aphrodite tried to go to his other side, but she stopped when Artemis glared at her.

Athena cleared her throat and said, **"****I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre – Algebra Teacher"**

"What the hell" Connor laughed. All the demigods started to laugh and the Gods, bar Hermes and Apollo, who were laughing with the demigods, looked at Percy weirdly. Percy pointedly ignored the stares.

"How do you vaporize your math teacher?" Travis said between laughs. Katie shut them up pretty quickly with a slap to the head.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

"Who does?" Percy muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, there's no luxury, only work" Frank said equally as quiet.

Artemis stiffened by his side and the Gods looked down, uncomfortable.

**If you are reading this because you might be one, my advice is:**

"NO!" All the demigods screamed. Percy groaned.

"If you value your life then you won't ever take advice from Prissy" Clarisse said seriously.

"His plans don't always fail." Thalia said mischievously. Percy grinned, but it would soon be wiped off his face. "Yeah, it works for the first 5 seconds and then it somehow screws everyone" Thalia finished with a serious face, but then she broke out in laugher, followed by everyone else.

**Close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.**

"Wow Percy, that wasn't that bad" Piper said, impressed.

**Being a half – blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

"And I'm loving every moment of it" Clarisse yelled. Everyone but Ares rolled their eyes.

"That's my girl!" Ares yelled.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

"Oh yes, I so envy you Percy" Beckendorf said sarcastically. Silena punched his arm.

"Why would you envy a demigod" Hera sneered. Everyone gave an internal sigh; she still hadn't changed one bit.

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages―if you feel something stirring inside―stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

"For some reason that sounds like Terminator" Apollo mused.

Hermes suddenly got a serious look on his face and said, "You're not a stalker Percy, are you." Connor, Travis, and Apollo were rolling on the floor, laughing, while the rest giggled, bar the men who chuckled.

Percy ignored him; he didn't really want to talk right now as he had a lot on his mind right now.

**My name is Percy Jackson.**

"No it's Seaweed Brain" Annabeth said.

"No it's Kelp-for-brains" Thalia argued.

"You're both wrong, he's a Prissy" Clarisse shot back.

"No he's a Fish Face" Connor yelled.

"Everyone shut up." Dionysus yelled. Everyone's eyes widened, until he smirked. "We all know he's Peter Johnson. Everyone, the Gods, and even Artemis burst out laughing while Percy clenched his fist.

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.**

**Am I a troubled kid?**

"Yes" Percy said suddenly.

"You do know that you just called yourself troubled, right" Hera scoffed.

"Well obviously since I have ADHD and Dyslexia" Percy said coolly. Hera shut up immediately.

"Whipped" Leo whispered to Jason and Piper, but he gulped when he saw the glare that Hera sent towards him.

**Yeah. You could say that.**

Percy smiled while everyone snickered.

Artemis frowned and thought to herself, _"Percy obviously doesn't like this idea and his whole life is getting read in front of everyone. He's really tense and uncomfortable; an idiot could see that._ Artemis laid her head on his shoulder, making his eyes widen and look at her cautiously.

Aphrodite smiled.

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our grade six class took a field trip to Manhattan- twenty-eight-mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading for the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"That doesn't seem that bad" Annabeth said, leaning in interested. Athena nodded her approval.

"What the hell are you talking about it sounds like torture" Poseidon argued.

"Yeah, I'm with Uncle P on this one guys, it is torture" Apollo said backing Poseidon up, but he immediately whimpered when Athena shot him her worst glare.

**I know- it sounds like torture. **

Everyone snickered while Annabeth threw a glare in Percy's direction.

He just stared back at her with a blank face.

**Most Yancy field trips were.** **But Mr. Brunner, our latin teacher was leading this trip, so I had high hopes. Mr. Brunner was this middle aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he was cool, but he told stories and jokes and would let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

Thalia frowned and said, "That sounds an awful lot like Chiron."

"That's because it is Chiron" Dionysus snapped, making everyone jump in surprise.

"Mr. D you're not sleeping" Hazel said with wide eyes. She had visited the Greek camp, along with many others, and during the welcome speech loud snoring started to come from the side and apparently Dionysus had fallen asleep.

"Well there are no magazines and I can't get drunk plus if I fall asleep then father will shock me awake again" Dionysus complained.

**I hoped the trip would be ok. At least, I hoped for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

"Bet you 5 drachmas that Percy gets in trouble" Connor said to Travis.

Travis snickered and said, "Who the hell is stupid enough to take that bet"

Everyone laughed.

**Boy was I wrong.**

"When are you ever right" Nico laughed.

"When he has his demigod dreams" Reyna said surprising everyone. She wasn't one to defend someone.

"Yeah, and in the Battle of Manhattan he was right about the strategies and a whole lot of other things" Katie said, glaring coldly at Nico.

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus but of course, I got expelled anyway.**

All the demigods, plus Apollo and Hermes, were clutching their sides from laughing so hard. Even Athena was laughing; except when people looked at her strangely she stopped. Artemis was not visibly laughing, but Percy could feel her shaking with laughter.

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. **

Everyone started to laugh uncontrollably again.

"Percy we gotta take you pranking with us some day" Hermes said in between laughs.

"Yeah, together we could prank anybody" Apollo said, finally calming down.

Zeus groaned when Percy smiled.

**This trip, I was determined to be good. All the way into the city I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

"Ewww" Aphrodite squealed.

Everyone just wrinkled their noses in disgust.

**He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you.**

"Why not?" Hestia asked. Thalia grinned and Grover groaned.

**You should have seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

People started to chuckle and Grover looked like he was going to pass out.

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her cause I was already on probation. The headmaster threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

Poseidon looked murderous and the other demigods scowled.

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

"Please do" Ares begged. He sounded like a 5 year old who couldn't get any candy.

Everyone looked at him weirdly and Aphrodite leaned away from him and towards Hephaestus.

Hephaestus looked mildly surprised and pleased.

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's ok. I like peanut butter." He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

"In your hair" Connor snickered.

**"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

Ares glared at Grover, who hid behind Katie.

**"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."** **Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. **

"I actually do" Percy murmured, which went unnoticed by everyone, but Artemis, and for some strange reason she felt worried for the boy.

**In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

Poseidon and many of the campers looked at Percy worriedly.

He just smiled darkly at them.

Artemis shuddered and thought, _"No one should ever look like that."_

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.** **He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.**

"Chiron needs to eat more cereal" Demeter said suddenly. Hades groaned and face palmed.

**It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

"Much longer than that" Hephaestus murmured.

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele for a girl our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everyone around me was talking, and every time, I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**

Nico frowned. She sounded oddly familiar.

Hades shifted in his throne, uncomfortably.

Athena saw this and threw a questioning glance at him; which he pointedly ignored.

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to drive a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

"Sure a nervous breakdown" Hades said sarcastically.

Nico's eyes widened and immediately whipped around at Percy who wasn't meeting his eyes.

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. **

"Well you do have the blessing of Hades" Katie said in a matter-of-fact way.

Percy face palmed.

**She would point her finger at me and say, "Now honey," real sweet and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month. One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, **

"She really is evil" Leo said shuddering.

Everyone couldn't help but agree.

**I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

"Way to blow your cover" Hermes groaned.

Grover blushed in embarrassment.

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about the Greek funeral art.** **Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"**

Everyone nodded in agreement.

**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

"Of course it did" Katie groaned.

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.**

**"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

**My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."**

Beckendorf gasped, "Percy doesn't have a comment and he actually said sir"

The demigods giggled and Silena slapped Charlie again.

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele.**

**"Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

**I looked at the carving and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

"Why does it always have to be that one?" Demeter moaned. All the other older gods grimaced and the demigods looked slightly ill.

**"Yes," said Mr. Brunner obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because..."**

**"Well..." I racked my brain trying to remember.**

"Oh this should be good" Athena murmured, but everyone still heard her.

Poseidon just glared at her while Percy wasn't even paying attention.

**"Kronos was the king god, and-"**

"GOD!" Everyone in the room yelled. They all looked at Percy, who was sleeping. He woke up a few moments later and glared at Zeus.

"I was 12 years old for god sakes and cut me some slack, I know the difference now" Percy said coldly. He then shut his eyes again.

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

**"Titan," I corrected myself.**

"Well at least he corrected himself" Hestia said warmly.

**"And... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"**

All the elder Gods winced.

"How didn't Kronos know that Zeus was a rock" Travis asked.

Before Zeus could answer Hades cut in and said, "Well that's because Zeus looks like a rock"

Everyone snickered when Zeus blushed, a rare sight.

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

"Eeew is right" Demeter said grimacing.

**"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**

Athena's left eye twitched and yelled, "You just summarized a 10 year war in 2 sentences"

Percy shrugged and ignored her.

**Some snickers from the group.**

"You got it right so why are they laughing" Hestia questioned.

Percy shrugged and said, "Mortals are weird."

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"Busted" the Stoll twins sang.

**"Busted," Grover muttered.**

"Crap, we think like a Satyr" Connor cried.

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who every caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears. **

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

"That's both yours and Poseidon's response to everything" Athena snickered.

Percy and Poseidon glared at her when everyone started to laugh.

**"I see," Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe and scattered him remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

The demigods smiled at Chiron's immediate change in personality.

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

"That's because all boys are doofuses" Artemis said.

"Well then why are you sitting right next to one" Poseidon said, but immediately face palmed. He had called his own son a doofus.

Athena and Zeus snickered.

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

**I knew what was coming.**

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go―**

**intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

**"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

**"About the Titans?"**

**"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

**"Oh."**

**"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**

"It's for the best" Hera said gently, earning her some weird looks.

Dionysus was about to say something, but Athena kept reading.

**I mean, sure it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!" and challenged us, sword point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I have never made above a C- in my life. No―he didn't want me to be as good he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

"He's trying to train you" Hestia said kindly.

"I know" Percy said quietly.

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took a long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

"He probably was" Clarisse said in unison with Nico.

They both looked at each other, disgusted, and turned away.

Thalia was the only one who saw this and started to laugh.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

**Overhead, a large storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was Global warming or something, because the weather all across New York State had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

Everyone looked at Zeus, but not in a questioning manner since they already knew what happened.

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school―the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

The Gods looked at Percy, who was ignoring the looks, sadly.

**"Detention?" Grover asked.**

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean―I'm not a genius."**

All the demigods snorted.

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

Everyone burst out laughing and Grover blushed.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head for home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to get kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.**

"Mama's boy" Ares snorted. Hera and all the demigods, all of them had met Sally, and Ares' smirk faltered.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.**

"Sweet" Beckendorf said.

"Yeah, we should totally make them" Leo said excitedly.

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends―I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists―and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

All the demigods glared at the book.

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"Attractive" Travis said seriously.

Everyone around him laughed.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

Percy looked smug at this.

"**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

Hermes, the twins, Leo, and Apollo started chanting, "Percy! Percy! Percy!" until Zeus glared at them.

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see―"**

**"―the water―"**

**"―like it grabbed her―"**

Everyone smiled at this.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. **

"Alecto" Athena whispered, her head whipping towards Percy's direction.

Besides Grover and Chiron, no one knew that Alecto was his first monster. Hades paled as Poseidon slowly turned towards him.

Sensing a fight, Athena quickly started to read again.

**"Now, honey―"**

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

"Never guess your punishment" Travis and Connor said together.

Hermes beamed at them.

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"Told ya so" Connor said.

Katie punched him in the gut, shutting him up.

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."**

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

Thalia and Annabeth glared at the book.

Hazel and Frank looked at each other, worried for Percy.

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.**

**"But―"**

**"You―will―stay―here."**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

**"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."**

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

Everyone, even the Gods shuddered, all having seen the stare.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

**How'd she get there so fast?**

"She's a monster" Athena stated.

"We know" Percy snapped.

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. I wasn't so sure.**

"When are you ever" Dionysus sneered.

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

The tension in the room grew.

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

"Well that's not suspicious" Reyna said sarcastically.

"Thanks Reyna" Percy said just as sarcastically.

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

"I wish" Hazel said worriedly.

Annabeth looked pale.

**But apparently that wasn't the plan. I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.** **Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

"Yes, a fight" Ares said feeling pumped. He almost wet his pants when he saw the glares that people were shooting at him.

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.**

"That's creepy" Jason said as he shuddered. Piper wrapped her arms around him.

Artemis frowned and looked at Percy, who had his eyes closed.

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...**

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

"Hades" Poseidon yelled.

He shrunk in his throne.

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

All the demigods, bar Hazel, Katie, and Silena, gasped.

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"**

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.**

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**

"That's what you think Percy" Aphrodite said, smiling seductively. Percy ignored it and for some strange reason Artemis felt her chest tighten; and she felt mad at Aphrodite.

**I said, "I'll―I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

Everyone winced.

**I didn't know what she was talking about.** **All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room.**

"You still have any" Connor asked hopefully.

Percy chuckled in response.

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

"It's a great book" Athena said, glaring at him.

"I have ADHD and Dyslexia" Percy shot back.

"Owned" Apollo whispered to Dionysus who was snoring loudly.

Poseidon took an old bucket of sea water and dumped it on his head.

**"Well?" she demanded.**

**"Ma'am, I don't..."**

**"Your time is up," she hissed.**

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

The tension in the room tripled.

**Then things got even stranger.**

"How" Hazel questioned fearfully.

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

Everyone let go of the breath that they were unconsciously holding. No one was more relieved than Artemis though.

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword―Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

Percy smiled at the mention of his trusty sword.

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

"Wimp" Ares snorted, but shut up when Aphrodite smacked him across the face.

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

**And she flew straight at me.**

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

"It's so natural for someone to swing a sword" Silena said sarcastically.

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. **

**Hisss!**

People smiled, relieved.

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan.**

"That's pretty weird" Piper stated.

**She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

"Creepy" Nico shuddered.

**I was alone.**

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.**

"Stupid Mist" Poseidon cursed.

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

"Magic mushrooms?" Travis questioned.

Suddenly Connor and Travis shared a mischievous smile and all the demigods plus Dionysus groaned.

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

"Hell no" Apollo said.

**I went back outside. It had started to rain.**

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

**I said, "Who?"**

**"Our teacher. Duh!"**

"The Mist is still affecting you" Demeter asked.

Percy nodded.

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?"**

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

Hermes moaned, "Grover I gotta give you lying lessons."

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

"Well Jupiter thinks so" Reyna said.

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.**

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

The demigods smiled.

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

"Good, I don't need to give Chiron a lying lesson too" Hermes said relieved.

"That's the end of the chapter" Athena said, closing the book.

**Cut! How'd ya like it? Read and review please and look at the poll on my profile.**

**Dragonheart1234**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter! I hoped you liked the last one. Anyways right now this story is winning by a lot on the poll! **

**I don't own anything.**

Even though they had only read one chapter it was late, but not late enough to go to sleep. It was time for dinner.

All the male demigods, and Apollo and Hermes, zipped out of the throne room and into the kitchens. When the other gods got there Demeter summoned a table that could hold around 30 people.

"You can eat whatever you want" Hestia said. "All you need to do is think about what you want to eat and it'll appear on your plate.

There was an assortment of food from everyone, but the most interesting was Zeus, who had a chocolate and potato chip pie! Hera, who was sitting next to him, slowly started to move away.

When Percy saw Hera he snorted into his blue appled juice.

Dinner was over relatively quickly and they went back into the throne room

"We'll read 3 more chapters today before everyone goes to sleep" Zeus said. The group was trying not to laugh as Zeus had chocolate all over his face and Hermes and Apollo were taking pictures, secretly.

Poseidon offered to read and started by saying, **"Three Old Ladies Knit The Socks of Death."**

Several people, including Poseidon and Artemis, who re-claimed her spot next to Percy, paled.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. **

"Or you're just stupid" Dionysus drawled. He shut up pretty quickly with a zap and glare from Thalia.

**The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

"I don't blame you Perce" Hermes said shuddering. "I'd be in a straitjacket, going out of my mind."

A few chuckled while the rest sniggered.

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

"That's because you are psycho" Clarisse sniggered.

Percy just rolled his eyes at her.

**It got so I almost believed them-Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

"5 drachmas says it's Grover" Travis said.

"You're on" Connor shot back.

Grover blushed.

**Almost.**

Travis and Connor leaned in.

**But Grover couldn't fool me.**

"Dammit!" Connor yelled. "I really gotta teach Grover how to lie."

Travis was too busy counting his drachmas to comment.

Grover looked ready to faint when everyone laughed.

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, **

Hermes and his kids groaned.

"You should eat more cereal" Demeter commented.

Hades groaned.

**then claim she didn't exist**. **But I knew he was lying.**

"Once I asked Grover where you were, during the Titan War, and he said he didn't know. But after that he turned red and started to fidget" Nico laughed.

"Yeah and this one time- Katie started.

"Alright we get it" Grover intervened, feeling that he was going to faint from embarrassment soon.

**Something was going on. Something **_**had**_** happened at the museum.**

"Nah, you only got attacked by a Fury" Beckendorf said sarcastically.

Artemis' glare was enough to shut him up quickly.

She was truly worried for Percy.

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

All the demigods shuddered, but they couldn't relate to Percy. They all knew he had the worst nightmares out of all of them.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy.**

Several people glared at Zeus.

**One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

"And now Poseidon's pissed as well" Hades piped up.

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.**

Athena glared at Percy.

"You really are a Seaweed Brain" Annabeth laughed, but you could tell that she was glaring at him as well.

"I'm hardwired for Greek" Percy shot back.

Neither Athena nor Annabeth made a comment.

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

"Way ta go Perce" Hermes yelled.

Apollo smiled as well, but it was wiped off his face when a silver arrow struck his throne, a few inches from his face.

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

The Gods and Annabeth laughed.

Seeing the confused faces Athena said, "Just look at Dionysus."

The Gods laugher increased when Dionysus' face turned red.

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

"Does Prissy miss his mommy" Clarisse teased.

"I love my mom; you got a problem with that?" Percy said with a fierce glare.

Hera seeing this said, "Why can't you be like him?"

"Maybe because you casted your kid off of Olympus" Hephaestus grunted.

Hera's glare faltered and she looked down guiltily.

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

Many people questioningly turned to him, but he gave no effort to reply.

**And yet . . . there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange.**

"I was going to say that's sweet, but now I'm not so sure" Aphrodite said dumbly.

She had been putting on nail polish and filing her nails the whole time, obviously not paying attention.

**I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

"Now that's sweet" Hestia said softly.

**I'd miss Latin class, too-Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days in his faith that I could do well.**

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. **

"Someone's a teacher's pet" Hazel said, amused.

Percy just smiled.

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner told me about this subject being life-a-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

"Good" Athena muttered.

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the **_**Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology **_**across my dorm room. **

Athena and Annabeth gasped.

Poseidon, Hermes, and Apollo rolled their eyes.

**Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin Verbs? Forget it.**

"That's easy" Athena said.

She was about to start when Dionysus cut in, "Read before she jibbers nonsense."

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

"Definitely not a good feeling" Connor and Travis said in unison.

People's eyebrows raised, but no one said anything.

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. **_**I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.**_

**I took a deep breath. I picked up my mythology book.**

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

"You really are a pessimist" Frank said slowly.

Several people agreed.

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice was definitely Grover's said ". . . worries about Percy, sir."**

"Oh great" Poseidon moaned.

**I froze.**

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper,**

Hermes, Nico, Thalia, and Annabeth snorted.

**but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

"Guilty as charged" Piper said.

Jason and Leo looked at her weirdly before saying, "You know you're talking to a book."

Her cheeks just reddened in response.** I inched closer.**

**". . . alone this summer." Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the **_**school**_**! Now that we know for sure, and **_**they**_** know too-"**

"**We would only make matters worse by rushing him." Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

"I was mature" Percy huffed.

"Yeah you're totally right" Zeus said with sarcasm dripping in his voice.

All the females rolled their eyes; he could be such a drama queen.

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice dead-line-"**

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

**"Sir, he **_**saw**_** her . . ."**

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

**"Sir, I . . . I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

Thalia sighed and Zeus glared harshly at Grover.

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"**

The tension in the room rose slightly.

Grover flinched when he thought back on what happened.

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

"Don't give away your position" Hermes yelled frantically.

Poseidon glared at him and said, "Don't corrupt my son."

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

"Good job; retreat when you might be caught" Travis said.

Katie lightly whacked him on the head.

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

Apollo groaned and said, "Now Chiron's blowing his cover"

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow **_**clop-clop-clop,**_**like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.**

**A bead of sweat tickled down my neck.**

Knowing that he was safe no one was worried.

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

"Oh yes since Zeus' Master Bolt was stolen" Hades snorted.

Zeus took out his Master Bolt and clutched it to his chest.

"I sweat that he loves that thing more than me" Hera muttered.

Luckily Zeus didn't hear her or he would most likely rant.

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn . . ."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

**"Don't remind me."**

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever. **

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to get ready for this test?"**

**I didn't answer.**

**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

**"Just . . . tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, **

"Not going to work since Satyrs can read emotions" Dionysus drawled.

"I know; I had an empathy link with him" Percy shot back.

**and started getting ready for bed.**

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

"That would be bad" Many people said throughout the room.

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,**

"Three hours!" All the demigods yelled, even Annabeth.

The Gods, bar Athena, had their noses wrinkled up in disgust.

**my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

**For a moment I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's . . . it's for the best."**

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic kidding motions with her lips.**

Several people went green at this.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean . . ." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

"Wow Chiron, way to go" Artemis said sarcastically.

"He has to work on his people's skills" Hera huffed.

**My eyes stung.**

Ares was going to say something, but stopped when he saw Artemis' glare.

**"Right." I said, trembling.**

**"," Mr. Brunner said. Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say . . . you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"**

Poseidon sighed.

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

**"Percy-"**

**But I was already gone.**

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were **_**rich**_** juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

Zeus glared at him, but shifted his glare to his siblings who were audibly sniggering.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

"Their idiots" Annabeth commented.

"Boys are idiots" Artemis snorted, but regretted it when Percy stiffened by her side.

He wouldn't meet her eyes when she looked at him.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

"That's nice" Aphrodite commented.

"It's because he's protecting him" Dionysus yelled.

"I swear she has an IQ of 10" Artemis murmured.

At this Percy cracked a smile.

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

"Oh Grover, when are you ever going to learn" Thalia asked while shaking her head.

He was about to answer, but Poseidon cut him off.

**Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

Hermes laughed, "That must've scared the shit out of him"

Hera was going to reprimand him for his language but no one could hear her over their laughter.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha- what do you mean?"**

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

"Never confess" Nico moaned.

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**

**"Oh . . . not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"**

"Zeus and Poseidon were only about to start a war, which got stopped might I add" Ares finished with a glare in Percy's direction.

"This would never have happened if you eat more cereal" Demeter said stubbournly.

Hades groaned in annoyance.

**He winced. "Look, Percy . . . I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers . . ."**

Several people snorted at that.

**"Grover-"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and . . ."**

"Grover really is a really, really bad liar" Artemis muttered, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

The whole group laughed at the look of horror that spread across Artemis' face.

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer."**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:**

_**Grover Underwood**_

_**Keeper**_

_**Half-Blood Hill**_

_**Long Island, New York**_

_**(800) 009-0009**_

"Camp Half-Blood has a phone number" Connor asked.

Travis just grinned mischievously, making Dionysus and Katie groan.

**"What's Half-"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" He yelped. "That's my, um . . . summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

**"Okay." I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

"Yeah it's definitely a mansion" Silena drawled.

Many people jumped since they forgot that she was there.

**He nodded. "Or . . . or if you need me."**

**"Why would I need you?"**

"Oooh harsh" Leo said wincing.

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

"Good" Several people said.

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

"Awww" the Goddesses cooed.

Percy blushed bright red and without thinking he hid his hair in Artemis'.

Surprisingly she blushed, which Apollo got on camera.** And here he was acting like he was the one who defended **_**me.**_

**"Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?"**

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.**

Several people turned green.

Others just wrinkled their noses in disgust.

**The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

**We were stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

"That sounds oddly familiar" Zeus muttered.

A few of the Gods agreed.

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

"The Fates" Hades gasped.

"What the hell" the Demigods yelled.

Artemis, as well as several other Gods, went pale when they saw Percy's dark smile.

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

The tension in the room tripled.

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"Not funny at all" Hera said nervously.

Despite the situation people were looking at her weirdly, for she never felt worried for a Demigod.

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

Everyone else caught their breaths too.

"Get your ass in there Perce" Thalia yelled.

**"Come on!" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

"NO!"

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me.**

**The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that **_**snip**_** across four-lanes of traffic.**

Poseidon looked at the sentence with dread.

When he finished the Goddesses were crying and miraculously Percy had fallen asleep again;

Artemis flicked him in the face and he woke up.

She had a single tear falling down her cheek.

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for- Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

Sad smiles were seen, but there was no laughter.

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

"Worse" Dionysus murmured.

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost-older.**

"Very observant" Apollo said, trying to diffuse the tension.

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal. **

**This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumbs. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

Zeus glared at Grover who was pale.

**"What last time?"**

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me, "What are you talking about?"**

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

**"Grover-that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"How are you still alive?" Hades whispered.

**Done! Thanks. Read and review please. I think I said it before, but this story is winning on the poll.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi PJ readers! I've thought long and hard 'bout this, but I'm handing my story off to CuriousGuest. I want to spend more time on my Pokemon stories, which are more popular. Thanks for reading this story and reviewing, but I'm sorry. Once again, thank you and please look for CuriousGuest's version, or if he just picks it up from where I left it.**

**Thanks,**

**Dragonheart1234**


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